How much does the team & Defense depend on the running game

Cable once said that Marshawn's running game benefits from Russell Wilson's running. I think Pete's philosophy on being a strong running team (don't tell Pete it's run first), is an absolute must in the NFL.

Defense wins Championships, a successful running game controls Time of Possession, which benefits the Defense and the threat of a running game benefits the passing game.

That said, an adaptable offense is also necessary in this league. I remember when nobody could run on the Detroit Lions with Shaun Rogers, or the Minnesota Vikings with the Williams Wall. But the Patriots went in to Minnesota and threw the ball. They didn't even try to run it. And they won.

I think it all comes down to being able to run the ball in almost any situation, but when you're team's struggling on the offensive line, take advantage of a great passing game too.

Man I want to see Thomas Rawls back.

I can tell you were not going to the superbowl without a decent run game. Defense and run game travel well on the road in the playoffs. passing offenses do not. unless you are tom brady

fieldgulls has a couple interesting articles about this-in regards to the running game Sheil Kapadia stated that according to Tom Cable the Seahawks ran the ball 10 times monday night, out of those 10 carries only 3 of them resulted in the OL and RBs making the right reads.....unbelievable-no wonder we were throwing the ball all game-but it also seems that CJ Prosise will be getting the majority of the carries next sunday night in NE

The run game translates well to the playoffs where you end up seeing a lot of games in bad weather where it's harder to pass.

Are we set up to be a good passing team ? Yes, I think we are. We can even win most games that way, but until we get a balanced pass game (think the Patriots and Saints) we won't be able to sustain as many drives, leaving our defense on the field too much.

Any defense needs an offense that can at least even up the time of possession. As a defender, you have to guess and then react to what the offense is doing thus expending more energy. That wears on you after a while; think on it...the best defenses typically have a good rotation on the DL. That's because guys need rest even in a normal game. We're not playing normal games, our defense is playing twice as much as the offense, and is still ranked 6th in DVOA.

If the offense evened out the time of possession, we'd be 1st in DVOA. Personally, I theorize the difference could cost us a game or two and end our run early in the playoffs against better teams. We can rely on being pass heavy, but catch the wrong team and it's going to hurt us.

If we don't give our defense a breather, Brady and company are going to hang 30 + points on us this week. Anyone think we win that game in Foxboro when they score 30 or more ?